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On August 31st the California state legislature wrapped up its work for the year, sending hundreds of new bills to Governor Brown’s desk - including bills to reduce harmful global warming pollution protect consumers from surprise medical bills, protect homeowners at risk of foreclosure, restore campaign finance options to reduce the influence of big money in politics, and give voters more options for casting their ballot.

Oakland - Consumer complaints about payday loans to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) show a critical need for strengthening the agency’s proposed rule to rein in payday loans and other high-cost lending, according to a report released today by the CALPIRG Education Fund.

This is the seventh in a series of reports that review complaints to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In this report, we explore consumer complaints about predatory loans, categorized in the database as payday loans, installment loans, and auto title loans.

"Through decades of emissions restrictions, California has made huge strides in cleaning our air and protecting public health from the worst effects of air pollution. But there is still more work to do, and the Legislature has an opportunity right now to pass a bill that would dramatically cut the super pollutants in our air," writes CALPIRG's Public Health Advocate Jason Pfeifle in the East Bay Times.

Wednesday was a historic day at the Capitol as the Legislature passed SB 32, a landmark climate bill that will extend California's emissions reduction target to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030. CALPIRG students from across the state made the trip to Sacramento to show their support for this historic climate legislation.

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Coverage of the McDonalds' announcement that they will stop serving chicken raised with antibiotics that are important to human health. "[Factory farms] are giving antibiotics daily to animals, in food and water, to prevent illnesses and promote faster growth. This is unnecessary, inappropriate and makes all of us less safe," said Emily Rusch with CALPIRG.

McDonald’s announced a new policy today to curb the overuse of antibiotics in raising the chickens that ultimately become McNuggets or other McDonald’s products. Within two years, farming operations supplying McDonald’s USA restaurants will not be allowed to administer medically important antibiotics to chickens, a practice that is commonplace, even when animals are healthy.

Today the FCC took not one but two critical actions to make sure that the Internet works for everybody. First, it issued a "Net Neutrality" order guaranteeing a free and open Internet. This Internet freedom order will prevent the phone and cable companies from granting fast lanes or other preferences to already powerful firms. The FCC also acted to override state laws that prevented local governments from building out broadband networks to compete with the phone and cable companies.

"For more than 20 years, wireless phone companies have not only survived but thrived under similar FCC rules for voice communication," said Emily Rusch, executive director of the California Public Interest Research Group. "The FCC's new proposal on broadband protects an open Internet for all consumers."

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(Update: phottos added.) Today, U.S. PIRG will be an invited guest as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposes new mortgage servicing rules to prevent, among other things, a recurrence of the robo-signing scandal. Among the other important news items of the week, in case you missed it, Ohio has made it harder for aggrieved consumers to obtain redress when ripped off.

From guest blogger Chris Jones: My brother, Gordon Jones, was one of the eleven hard-working men killed aboard the Deepwater Horizon deepwater oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010. Unlike BP, I believe my brother was more than a number or tax credit.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released today a new report calling on Internet companies to put in place a "Do Not Track" system that would give consumers more control over their personal data online by the end of the year . The FTC also called on Congress to pass privacy legislation that would allow consumers to see how their online data is collected, used and sold, and give consumers the ability to stop such practices.